Category: Sporting 4x4s 
Price Range: £36,801 to £75,137
Astonishing on-road performance for a 4x4, handling to match, yet very capable off-road. Well made from expensive materials, the V6 looks affordable
Ride is too firm, and it's hard to come to terms with a Porsche-badged 4x4
The most controversial Porsche ever brings two worlds into collision, but without destroying either of them.
Blame the Americans and their love of leisure 4x4s, or SUVs (sport utility vehicles), but Porsche has chosen to create such a vehicle to expand its product range. It's a hard idea to swallow, but Porsche claims the Cayenne retains the marque's features - pace, handling, quality, and a design which is clear, functional and muscular - while reaching similar standards in practicality and, surprisingly, off-road ability.
Built in a new factory in Leipzig, eastern Germany, which will also make the Carrera GT supercar, the Cayenne began its gestation as a joint development with Volkswagen's new Touareg off-roader. They went their separate ways early on, but the underskin structure, built by Volkswagen in Bratislava, remains common to both cars as does the six-speed transmission (Tiptronic or manual).
Despite the Porsche badge and near-supercar performance potential, the Cayenne is a capable off-roader with lockable differentials and a low-ratio gear set to add to its full-time four-wheel drive. It can ascend or descend hills as steep as 45 degrees, and lean more than 35 degrees without threatening to fall over. Yet it is also intended to feel sporty and Porsche-like on the road despite its high build, helped by height-adjustable pneumatic suspension (optional on the S, standard on the Turbo).
The front end is a topological distortion of a 911 Turbo's face, but otherwise the shape is a wide-tracked, fat-arched, low-roofed interpretation of the usual SUV idea. The Turbo version looks the more aggressive with extra air intakes and four exhaust pipes, the better to advertise its 4.5-litre, twin-turbo V8 engine. Its 450bhp powers the world's fastest SUV to 60mph in 5.5 seconds, and on to 165mph - an extraordinary feat for a two-ton-plus 4x4. The much cheaper S uses the same basic all-new engine, but without turbos it makes do with 340bhp. That's still enough for a 150mph top speed. And there's even an entry-level 250bhp V6 Cayenne.
